Yesterday I used the laser light on the Brother Innov-ís BQ3050 to make half-square triangles. Today, I’ll use the same great feature to make quarter square triangle quilt blocks.
This is a good project for using 10″ squares (layer cakes) or using fabrics from your stash. It’s a very scrappy look, so don’t be afraid to mix and match.
Start with (12) 10″ squares – you can always make more blocks later if you like this design.
- Turn on the laser line by pressing the laser line button.
- Press the – button beside the laser light button until the reading is –2mm. You can move it to any position in between center and left, but –2mm is the setting needed today.
- Place (2) 10″ squares right sides together.
- Sew from corner to corner on the 10″ square. This is quite a long seam, so you might like to draw a line on the fabric from corner to corner before starting to sew.
- Place the laser light on the drawn line.
- Start sewing, lining up the edge of the J foot with the laser line. I’ll be sewing a scant ¼” from the laser light. It takes a bit of practice to follow the laser light instead of looking at the needle, but it’s well worth it to learn this technique on the Brother Innov-ís BQ3050.
- Stitch on both sides of the centerline.
- Cut the square apart on the center line to make 2 half square triangles.
- Press seams toward the darker fabric.
- Take 2 different half square triangles and place them right sides together, matching the seams. It doesn’t matter if the outside edges match. They’ll be trimmed later.
- Using the laser line as a guide, sew a seam on each side of the center line, just as I did with the first 2 squares.
- Cut the squares apart on the center line and I have two quarter square triangle blocks.
This is a great technique to use for any size quarter square triangle block you need.
- Using an Omnigrip ruler, trim the squares so they are 8½”. Make sure to keep the diagonal seams right in the corners when trimming.
Be sure to come back tomorrow to see the magic that happens when I cut these blocks up, sew them back together again on the Brother Innov-ís BQ3050 and create a completely different design!